Gandhi And India`s Democracy

May 23, 1991

Like the populous democracy he served, Rajiv Gandhi was imperfect but promising. At 46, he already was making a political comeback, having learned a thing or two as India`s prime minister in 1984-89 and a thing or two more while out of power. In fact, Gandhi was applying one lesson-appeal more to the grassroots-when he was assassinated Tuesday at a campaign stop.

Although the matter of his potential is now moot, the state of India`s democracy is as pertinent as ever, if not more so. Is it viable? Will communal violence ever cease to besmirch it?

The answer to the first question is yes; to the second, not in the foreseeable future.

After 44 years, democracy is ingrained in Indians. They expect to have elections periodically, and even the most uneducated among them are politically savvy enough to pick local representatives who will address their needs. The vitality and durability of India`s democracy have been an inspiration to others in the Third World; this won`t change.

Unfortunately, murder and mayhem endure too. It is small comfort that the scale of the violence has contracted from the sectarian killings that preceded independent India`s creation in 1947 and the slaughter that marked the formation of West and East Pakistan. In 1984, Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her bodyguards. And her son is the most prominent of more than 200 victims of election strife this year.

When the electorate totals half a billion people, 200 lives may not seem like many at all. Yet a democratic process is supposed to be peaceful. Killing makes a mockery of it. Riots are antithetical to it, even in places where sources of tension are abundant.

India certainly is such a place. It teems with almost 850 million people divided by personal rivalries, caste, economic class and religion. Hindus and Muslims are perennial, often vicious competitors for power and influence. Still, life proceeds peacefully in much of India.

Could Rajiv Gandhi have made peace universal? No, but he could have served India well while trying. No other Indian political leader enjoys similar standing nationwide, although the leaders of two or three other political parties are approaching national stature.

The Congress Party has nominated Gandhi`s widow, Sonia, to run in his stead, an obvious ploy to capture the sympathy vote when elections resume next month.

Gandhi started strong after assuming the post of prime minister following his mother`s assassination. He attempted to weaken the entrenched bureaucracy`s hold on the government and liberalize the economy. But the bureaucrats slowed his momentum; the high-tech programs he pushed slighted the lower classes, and an arms scandal to which he was linked drained away his popularity.

His assassination ends a political dynasty that began with his grandfather, Jawaharlal Nehru, prime minister from 1947-64. That is not necessarily lamentable. What is cause for concern is the uncertainty his death adds to India`s politics. And that means further delay in tackling the nation`s many problems.

There need be little worry about one thing, though. India`s democracy, amazing in its resiliency, should survive this challenge too.